Sunday, September 6, 2009

Yay or Nay? Thaddeus Burr

For a while last week, we were split right down the centre on Queen Juliana Marie's white ruffly gown. But as I said, ruffles are in this fall so the look was met with a final outcome of 'Yay.' This week let's drop the frill and add some colour!


Rugged Colonist meets urban chic when John Singleton Copley paints Thaddeus Burr (c. 1760) in brown and cerulean. Yay or Nay?

[Saint Louis Art Museum]

42 comments:

  1. Very nice Perez-reader but you have to leave some input on this blog!

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  2. for me, it's a full on, shout it out loud, YAY! gorgeous. love brown and blue together. and he's a bit of a dish. yep, i say yay!

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  3. Yay for Copley! He can never go wrong! And the outfit is hot too.

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  4. I always hate to say nay to a nice looking fellow, but so it must be. I find the blue a little crude, plus he looks like he was cut out and pasted onto a backdrop. Esp around the elbow. (I also find the background a little confusing.)

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  5. Well, sometimes a good looking man makes a faux pas in fashion and that's why we have Yay or Nay! The painting is unfinished and that's why it's a little wonky. I don't think he was related to Aaaron, he was of the Fairfield CT Burrs

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  6. Wow, that's one amazing blue colour on that waistcoat! *Do not believe her eyes.* But I have to - sadly - turn this down, because that brown, dull coat of his don't fit the sparkly waistcoat. (I heard that the paintig is unfinished and maybe that's why the coat looks so dull compared to the waistcoat).

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  7. I say Yay, but only because I have that exact shade of blue silk, and gorgeous brown wool that is very close to the coat, and they look amazing together IRL, so I know it works!

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  8. A Yay and also a yes please! He's quite the hunk. Love the blue. There's a guy not afraid to stand out in a crowd.

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  9. Y * A * Y!!!!! Gorgeous man in an equally gorgeous outfit. He looks like a hero from a Mills and Boon novel. lol I, too, like the combination of blue and brown.

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  10. Definitely yay from me! The guy's pretty good-looking too.^_^

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  11. Ah, thank you Heather. In that case I retract the cut and pasted remark but still hold firm on the ickiness of the blue.

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  12. He IS yummy and so is the waistcoat. I agree with LadyAugstaFredrika, though, that the waistcoast seems unrelated to the rest of the outfit. Some glittering tortoise shell buttons on the brown overcoat might build a bit of a bridge there. It seems inconceivable that this grave, manly fellow would have this sudden desire to wear an eye-popping Sir Elton John tog so out of the, er, blue. Anyway, YAY, with objections.

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  13. Oooo, definitely a yay. I wish guys today were brave enough to wear color.

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  14. what an odd portrait! what kind of paint was used in this? It looks very matted and strange. But that's beside the point.
    I like the color contrast, and the whole "ruggish rakish charm" thing is okay, but somehow, the whole painting is somewhat... different. It's not my favorite, but I'll give it a yay. Not an outstanding yay, but whatever.

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  15. Just looked through the other comments... and you guys think he's good looking?!?!? What????
    Well, whatever. Oh, and his pants start to blend into that psychedelic background. What on Earth is it? Who really knows?
    I always end up adding stuff after I say something. Sorry! :)

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  16. @Leah: IMHO, he IS handsome, but in a grave, intellectual way. The pants to blend away because the painting isn't finished. Almost looks like old sepia images.

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  17. A YAY from me! The deep brown with the bold blue is a striking combination that says "It's okay to look at me." He's got this irresistible swagger going on with his stance. Sometimes it's not what you wear, but how you wear it.

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  18. I think it's... interesting. He is quite brave to mix the shiny silk waistcoat with a simple, almost peasant-like jacket. Personally, I like the result. However, I do not know if the eighteenth century fashion gurus would have approved.

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  19. Lol Leah.... I usually go back several times with my two cents worth as well! :O)

    What psychedelic background?!!!! What are you on that I'm missing?! Lol, I can't see anything psychedelic! :O)

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  20. YAY! Defenitly YAY, with NO objections at all! I love the combination of colours, how your drawn to the bright waistcoast which is balanced by a more quiet chocolate brown suit.

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  21. All of you "nay" people need to visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' website and search the collections for John Singleton Copley. He always makes the fabric look shiny and the eyes very bright. All of his subjects look gorgeous, even Sam Adams. You should especially look at the portrait of John Hancock--it's beautiful! You can even zoom in and see his 5 o'clock shadow!

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  22. YAY!!!

    I love the deep brown with shining blue. Actually I have a modern version of that ensemble: a chocolate linen Cacharel suit that I wear with a blue silk YSL polo.

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  23. Yes I like the "rugged Colonial" coat - or could he be the dark and handsome highwayman? But the silk waistcoat - the wrinkles in the coat and the light bouncing off them - it is distracting to me. A muted yeah.

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  24. Yummy!!! YAY! I love the vibrant blue with the brown. He looks like quite the rogue. Attractive man...Attractive outfit...Attractive energy.

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  25. Yay and meow! Hello, handsome.

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  26. Full on YAY. I love those colors together and second the commenter above who asked--why don't guys shake it up like this anymore?

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  27. Yay, yay, yay. A thousand times yay!

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  28. Absolute YAY! The suit was probably made of fine wool broadcloth, which is absolutely yummy when you see/feel it in person. And that blue satin is a lovely pop! I can see it in a lady's day outfit--brown anglaise gown with a blue satin quilted petticoat!

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  29. YAY! The brown of the suit needed a pop of color and he pulled it off!!

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  30. Simple, but very striking; a decided Yay!

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  31. I love it! It's an absolute yay!

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  32. I love it! It's an absolute yay!

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  33. Lesley: It looks fairly swirly to me, which earns it a "psychedelic".
    Paul: ...okay. "Intellectual good looks" it is :)

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  34. Thaddeus Burr was a cousin of Aaron Burr and probably, Thaddeus was a spy during the American Revolution

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